My PLN is Right Outside My Door...

                       Grand Finale - Hip Gypsy Fashion Extravaganza - February 12, 2012

So, I started digging into this whole PLN thing. At first blush, I was a little bit intimidated because most of the information seemed geared for educators. Concluding that it will require a little thinking outside of the box, it occurred to me that I have just had the experience of learning through a PLN and didn't even realize it!

My business partners and I had the privilege of coordinating a fashion show in our business neighborhood to benefit a local charity earlier this month. While our goal was to do a little good for our community, it would be disingenuous to say that, as newcomers to the community, we also weren't also hoping to promote our own business as well. We floated the original idea at our local merchant's association meeting back in November to a rather lukewarm response. Knowing that this was a project we could not pull off on solely on our own, we started reaching out to other businesses in the neighborhood who were not actively involved in the association.

Across the street from our store happens to be a historical old theater. They offered up a venue for the event. We started visiting our neighbors to brainstorm how they might be involved in the project. Long story short... we had buy-in from nearly all of them! Our show, which was really  more of a theatrical production than a traditional runway show, included merchandise from numerous antique stores, thrift shops, art galleries, the local Harley Davidson dealer, a tack shop, and even the two area tattoo parlors! Our models, consisted of or friends, families, and customers. By mixing and blending our collective wares, we pulled off, in six weeks time, a professionally choreographed production that blended fashion, skin art, cowboy, biker, vintage, and gypsy. We even threw in a little PG-rated pole dancing for good measure. Our restaurant neighbors got involved by providing the food and beverages. A local limousine company taxied VIP's from the parking lot to the theater red carpet where the paparazzi snapped pictures as they entered the theater. The local newspaper helped us promote the event in advance and we tapped into every resource we had at our disposal. The evening was a huge success, with over 400 in attendance, and culminated in a tear-jerking tribute to our veterans, Jimi Hendrix-style. The entire street is abuzz with plans for next year and how we can make it even bigger and better!

Upon reflection, it occurs to me that all of these business owners, some sophisticated in their business practices, some not as much, can be the foundation of my PLN. Many of these folks have successfully run businesses in our neighborhood for many years. Now that we are all on such friendly and collaborative terms, I think I have found a good jumping off point. What do you think?

I Wonder What Will Happen If I Push This Little Button...

                                         http://comics.dp.cx/dailystrips-2009.11.27.html

So… after reading Chapter 2 – Browsing the Web in the class text, I come away realizing how little I really understood as far as even the most basic workings of a simple web browser. While as a rule, I don’t use Internet Explorer; I do have occasion to use it at certain times; mainly if I am using my net book while at my store, or if I am using my work computer at my office.  At home, we mostly use Firefox, mainly because it seems to run more efficiently out here in the back-of-beyond where I live and is the majority favorite in my family.

I’m probably the only uber-dork who actually followed along with the book and went through all the practice exercises. For a visual learner like me, the process of going through all of the steps, simultaneously reading and doing, is actually quite helpful, although I’m feeling even more amateur-ish than usual now that I know what many of those little icons actually represent! Prior, they were just a bunch of scary things that I was afraid to click on lest I (1) launch myself into some great abyss in the internet ether, never to find my way back to where I started, or (2) blow up the darned computer. How happy am I to learn that neither of those things was going to happen??

I am shaking my head over how much time I can save myself now that I know about some of those handy-dandy browser shortcuts. While I did use the Favorites and History options quite regularly, I now know about Web Slices and Accelerators! Those were buttons I would previously never touch, for the reasons mentioned above! The RSS Reader is a tool that I would see on sites as I surfed, but again…never willing to go there. If I am going to be spending time in the blogging world, I think that particular tool will be extremely helpful!

Because I am a self-proclaimed privacy-lover, and because I recently had my personal e-mail address hijacked (and for the record, I was NOT peddling an ED pill to everyone in my e-mail address book), the section on the various risks and safeguards while using the Web was helpful to me. I think I will definitely do as the textbook recommends and make a point of deleting and restricting acceptance of cookies, as well as check out the opt-out features of more web sites. Anyone besides me like to keep their "biz-ness" as private as possible?

What is this Net Neutrality thing?

Net Neutrality is a term I’ve heard bandied about for the past few years.  Quite frankly, I really have not paid a whole lot of attention to it because it didn’t strike me as particularly relevant to the day-to-day workings of my little world.

It is the principle that all data traveling along an Internet connection should be treated equally. The practice of net neutrality would prevent network operators, namely Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) from giving preferential treatment to some content while slowing down or blocking other traffic. Historically, ISP’s have mostly been responsible for policing themselves on the matter without a whole lot of government intervention because the “rules” have not been codified into law.

Proponents of net neutrality argue that actual net neutrality regulations are necessary in order to prevent ISP’s from blocking or limiting the publics’ access to all of the on-line services, information, and technology that is currently available on the net. Anything less, it is argued, amounts to a violation of our free speech.

Detractors of net neutrality claim that ISP’s are entitled to control their networks as they see fit.  Without some modicum of control, portions of their customers are negatively impacted by a different segment of users who are utilizing greater bandwidth for some of their Internet activities.

As with most things these days, the topic has become a hot-button political issue, with camps on both sides of the isle. Pro net-neutrality advocates believe that government controls are necessary, while the anti net neutrality folks posit that the free market will drive fair play and the government needs to stay out of the way.

Having delved a little deeper now, I have mixed feelings about the whole issue. Having spent a lot of time studying the law for the last four years, I see a whole bunch of Constitutional issues coming into question. I just printed out my own copy of Comcast Corp. v.  Federal Communications Commission, which was decided in Federal Court last April. I plan to take a good look at it before deciding where I stand on the issue. 

Do you know where you stand yet?